Merck, Athenex Join Forces To Evaluate Oraxol/Keytruda Combo In Lung Cancer

• Athenex Inc (NASDAQ:ATNX) announced a clinical trial collaboration and supply agreement with Merck Co & Inc (NYSE:MRK). 
• The agreement applies to the expansion phase of the Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating Athenex's oral paclitaxel combined with Merck's Keytruda (pembrolizumab) for certain NSCLC patients.
• The agreement will support the trial's expansion phase to investigate further the preliminary results of the KX-ORAX-011 Phase 1 trial evaluating Oraxol (encequidar plus oral paclitaxel) in combination with pembrolizumab for certain NSCLC patients. 
• The two companies will form a Joint Development Committee to review the clinical trial results.
• The NSCLC expansion cohort is actively recruiting and aims to enroll approximately 50 patients.
• Price Action: ATNX shares are up 2.15% at $0.48 during the market session on the last check Monday.